Ache
by RoastedWolf
Summary: Korra's on the verge of giving up. After the fight with Zaheer, she just wants to feel something other than empty. Asami is fully prepared to help her.


Asami paused in the doorway as the breeze licked her cheeks. It was night – the full moon hung, orb like, in the sky, reflecting off the calm waters of Republic City's harbour. Beyond Air Temple Island, the night was alive, buzzing with the ever present excitement that preceded the hours of darkness. But here, in a place so hallowed by the Air Benders' presence, Asami felt peaceful.

And troubled.

Framed in the window was Korra, slumped in her wheelchair, staring out over the city. Asami knew without looking that Korra's usually brilliant eyes were dull and lifeless. Felt, even from this distance, the ache in her chest at the thought of what the Avatar had become.

To hear Korra tell it, in the darkest of moments – moments whispered when there were no stars or moon to guide her – she had become a husk, devoid of spirit and life.

Asami felt differently. Within Korra, although broken, was something strong. Something steely that could not be severed.

But the Avatar could not see it. Could not feel it.

Asami supposed she'd have to feel it for her.

The heiress moved silently into the room, closing the doors behind her softly and trying not to remember how the sharp sting of angered grief felt whenever she looked into Korra's eyes. The distant rush of water was the only sound between them, covering the muffled thud of her shoes on the carpet below. The Avatar did not stir. Asami supposed she was wrapped up in her own thoughts. There had been a time when Korra was never caught unawares.

How times change.

"Hey," she murmured instead, pressing her hand into Korra's shoulder before sliding down to crouch beside her. "It's getting late. Do you want me to help you get into bed?"

Dull blue met green and the dark shadows draped under them seemed to grow. The light streaming from the open window only made Korra's face look even less like itself: skull-like, broken, barren of anything except muted pain. After a few painful seconds in which Asami wrestled with the urge to cry, Korra looked back out of the window again.

Asami pressed her hand against Korra's, giving her a lopsided smile.

"It's okay. I'll just get your nightclothes out. I know you like looking at the sky."

So she stood up, pottering around the room in the half dark, opening drawers and pulling out trousers and a vest, thinking of schematics and wires and metal – anything except the changed person whom she diligently cared for, whom she would do anything for. Bustling over to the bed, she brushed aside white lashes of Naga's fur, folding the sheets back and fluffing the simple pillow. Somehow, she felt that Korra deserved it.

When the Avatar spoke, her voice was raw with disuse.

"I just want to feel something except _this_."

Asami paused, her fingers curled into the light blue pyjamas she was cradling. They smelt like Korra – fresh and safe. Wholesome, dependable. Everything the Avatar was meant to be.

"What do you mean?" She replied softly, carefully laying out Korra's nightclothes and making sure they looked neat. When she was prepared to talk, it was best to allow Korra as much space verbally as possible. Asami wasn't sure when the Avatar would open up again.

"I… I don't want to feel empty anymore." A shuddering sigh and Asami heard fabric rustle. She turned to see Korra staring at her hands, the long fingers curled as though trying to hold smoke. Or to clutch at something that wasn't there.

"Korra… It's not going to be easy to go back to what you were before." Asami said softly, shifting back to the other woman's side. She knelt before her, taking her hands in hers and winding their fingers together. Their eyes met again, tears brimming on the edges of those blue pools, clinging to dark eyelashes. Asami continued, trying to give Korra a brave smile. "You've been through so much. It's been three weeks. Please, please. Just give yourself some time."

The tears fell, Korra's face curling into itself as she let out a strangled sob. Asami reached up to cup a cheek, a lump forming in her throat.

All she could think to say was, "You're not empty. Korra, you're not empty."

The Avatar lurched forwards, wrapping her arms around Asami's neck and shuddering with broken cries, muffled by teeth digging into her lip. The heiress hesitated before relaxing into the embrace, folding herself around Korra's bent back and closing her eyes. She murmured soothing words – nonsensical sentiments – and stroked Korra's back gently.

Eventually, Korra pulled back, only to crush their lips together in a kiss that felt raw and unforgiving. Asami stayed quite still, heart thundering. They'd only kissed once before. On the airship, before the fight with Zaheer. In fact, they'd spent the night together. A topic they hadn't discussed since Korra had snuck out of her room before Asami had a chance to wake up.

When Korra drew away, she was breathing heavily, cheeks flushed. Asami peered up at her, watching as something akin to desperation filled Korra's face. Asami knew, then, what Korra wanted. She didn't need the shaking, sweating hand stroking her cheek, then her lip. She didn't need the white flash of teeth digging into plump flesh. It was instinct.

"Please, Asami… I want to _feel_ something."

Asami didn't even need a second to consider it. She'd meant what she said about Korra needing anything. If meaningless sex would help her, Asami was prepared to aid her. She rationalised, as she pushed Korra back into the wheelchair, she'd rather be the person Korra used than anyone else.

She didn't bother with formalities. Instead, she grabbed the waistband of Korra's trousers, pulling them down her useless legs and shoving them aside. Her underwear went next, landing somewhere nearby.

"The bed. The… the bed!" Korra murmured breathlessly. Without a word, Asami stood, moving quickly around the wheelchair and pulling it up beside the bed. Korra heaved herself out of it, settling on her back into cool sheets, dragging her legs behind her. Asami kicked the twisted metal on wheels aside, settling onto her knees before the Avatar, staring up into the shadowed face she'd come to care about so much. Korra had propped herself onto her elbows, eyes wide and expectant, the ever-present bags made ever more obvious.

She held the stare even as she pushed Korra's legs apart, holding her thighs open as she dipped between them, scattering kisses on tanned flesh, biting lightly and tasting the skin there.

A firm hand curled into her hair and she closed her eyes, leaning in to the burning heat that awaited her. Korra was already wet – warm and silky against her lips as she pressed kiss after gentle kiss against her. The fingers tightened, and she set herself to work, tasting with firm licks, inscribing the familiarity to memory just in case she never got to feel it again.

"More…"

The gasped permission is all she needed. She sealed her lips around Korra's clit, sucking and flicking the tip of her tongue against it, remembering that night so long ago, remembering how the Avatar – _her_ Avatar – liked to be touched.

She slipped a finger into clinging heat, and then another, thrusting them slowly in and out, feeling warmth burn inside her, distracting her from her task. She ignored it as best she could, curling her fingers against smooth muscle, searching blindly as she sucked harder.

Korra's hips were jerking against her, gasps and pants echoing somewhere above her. A quick glance told her that Korra was lying flat again, teeth digging into a wrist as she struggled to keep quiet. Somehow, their eyes met, and Korra tightened, vice-like, around her fingers, shuddering into completion. Asami slowed her movements, easing the Avatar through the last contractions until she heard a peaceful sigh.

They stayed like that for a few moments, the sound of the water and the wind filling the space between them.

But Asami knew it couldn't last. Slowly, gently, trying not to disturb Korra too much, she drew away, placing her fingers into her mouth to savour the last traces of Korra's release. It was addictive, the taste. Unique, and comforting.

"Where are you–?" Korra began, but Asami shook her head, getting to her feet.

"You need to get ready for bed. You've got healers coming to see you tomorrow morning."

Korra looked as though she was about to protest, but the fire that had ignited in her eyes died, and she looked away, staring at the sheets.

"Yeah. I… yeah."

In silence, Asami helped Korra get dressed for bed. In silence, she helped the Avatar climb under the sheets. In silence, she folded the discarded clothes and placed them on the top of the dresser, ignoring the prickling sensation of Korra's gaze on her back.

They shared a final glance, full of anguish, before Asami left the room, closing the door behind her with a soft thud.


End file.
